the incredible, edible egg[plant]

I have a fetish for eggplants. It's been over a year now since they've been a staple in my veggie drawer. Something has possessed me to share my greatest eggplant exploits tonight. Maybe it's the 20cm of snow accumulating outside, or maybe it's the abnormal amount of time I've spent on food blogs lately -- thus impelling me to share my own culinary adventures. Anyway, tonight is an ode to the eggplant, may our relationship continue for many years to come!

Top 5 Favorite Uses of Eggplant:

1. Eggplant Parmasean: This is one of my favorite dishes, gracing Italian menus the world wide. It is made more or less like lasagna but uses eggplant strips in lieu of flat noodles. I first made this using a recipe from the foodblog, Judy in Her Natural Habitat, and I don't hesitate to guide you in the same direction. Oh yeah, bring on the marinara, parm, and eggplant hot and steamy goodness!
   


















2. Eggplant Loaf: This is a mondunsko original. I use a basic carrot bread recipe (try this one from AllRecipes) but substitute shredded eggplant for the carrots. If I have zucchini, I'll shred some of that in there, too. This is not to be confused with the "eggplant loaf" that vegetarians eat to fill the lack of meatloaf in their lives -- however that's another great use for our adorable eggplant.



3. Eggplant Spread: Rachel Ray calls this one 'Poor Man's Caviar'. I keep it in the fridge as a good spread for sandwiches: the eggplant version of hummus, if you will. I make mine a little different than Rachel Ray does. I start by skinning the eggplant and slicing it [horizontally, into circles], which I then lay on a baking sheet. After drizzling them with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, they bake for about 15-20 minutes. When they're out of hte oven they go straight into the food processor with about two tablespoons of mayo, two cloves of garlic, and a generous pinch of salt. Voila! Put it on a sandwich and fall into a sweet eggplant stupor the way I do. Ahhh.
   
   
   

















4. Stuffed Eggplant: hands-down the backyard barbeque summer-time favorite. Let's start by cutting the eggplant lengthwise and laying both halves face down on a plate with a bit of water -- put the plate in the microwave for 2 minutes, or until the flesh of the eggplant is soft enough to be scooped out (you may have to add more water for subsequent trips to the microwave). Set aside this flesh, we'll use it for the filling. In a small pot, boil about a cup of rice with chicken stock until it's tender. Simultaneously, keep a skillet going with the eggplant flesh and any other veggies you can muster (my favs are bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms). Season to taste and add the rice. Lastly, scoop the filling into the eggplant halves, sprinkle with parmasean, and stick on a covered grill until the eggplant skin looks a bit droopy. Devour and enjoy.
   
   


















5. Fried Eggplant: I know I know... Americans have a tendency to fry everything... land of the deep-fried Oreos. And the deep-fried Snickers bar. Eggplant, too, falls into that category of delicious things to fry. Slice your egg-shaped-plant and coat the slices in flour. Bathe the floured slices in a bath of beat eggs and a bit of milk and then roll the slices around on a plate of stale bread crumbs (I save all my breadcrumbs in the freezer and cash them in for recipes like this one, chaa-ching!). Now for the frying part that you've been waiting for: fry your gooey, crumbly slices in a pan with about a centimeter of vegetable oil until lightly browned and crispy. Sprinkle with sea salt. I love dipping these in ranch dressing. It's a bad habit picked up at my alma mater -- does everyone know that central Pennsylvanians dip everything in ranch? They're onto something great. Soulfood.
   
   
   

I just reviewed that list of my top favorite uses of eggplant and it struck me that I consume the most eggplant in my grilled cheese sandwiches. I should've shared that with you in the beginning. Ahhh, such a great veggie. I hope to have a garden-full someday, and then the experimenting will really begin!

All images courtesy of GoogleImages.